You may have been like me…your parents took you to Church every Sunday, you participated in activities at Church, and you even memorized Bible verses. You had lots of head knowledge about God…but it never migrated south to your heart. It wasn’t until years later when I had a very personal encounter with Jesus, that my life was changed forever. So what happened? We can go through life knowing “about” something, but it’s not until we come to the full comprehension and experience it for ourselves that it’s made real. When God reveals the spiritual truth of just who Jesus Christ is to us and that He died for our sins…there is no longer any confusion. For the spotlight of truth shines brightly onto our wretched lives, and we see ourselves for what we really are…a sinner needing salvation.
Month: May 2018
Esther 1:10-12 ” On the seventh day, when King Xerxes was in high spirits from wine, he commanded the seven eunuchs who served him to bring him Queen Vashti, wearing her royal crown, in order to display her beauty to the people and nobles, for she was lovely to look at. But when the attendants delivered the King’s command, Queen Vashti refused to come.”
Some suggest that when King Xerxes gave his drunken order for the Queen to appear in public with her royal crown – that was all she was allowed to wear…thus she refused to comply with something she found offensive. Another meaning for being “in high spirits” here is not making good or proper decisions. Whenever we allow foreign substances to alter our mind and thinking we will make poor, spur of the moment decisions. For when alcohol, and drugs cloud our thought process, really stupid decisions can be made…with really sad far-reaching results.
Psalm 97:10 ” Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for He guards the lives of His faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.”
In one breath the Lord admonishes us to hate evil, in the next, He teaches us to love one another and to love our neighbor as our self. So how can we love someone who’s immoral and unethical behavior goes against everything Godly we stand for? Or how can we show love and compassion to someone who flippantly thumbs their nose at God? It’s all about separating the sin from the sinner. We are to hate the sin but love the sinner. We can abhor the sin, but still show true affection…we can detest what’s happened to the person, but still remain devoted in friendship…we can loathe the mess they’ve gotten themselves into, but still love the person we know. By hating the sin and not the sinner, we show the true love of Jesus Christ and the truth of the Gospel.
Romans 9:20 ” But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “
I’m not accusing anyone of flagrant disrespect towards the Lord…for we’d all be quick to deny it. But what I’m asking is more about the covert and secretive disrespect we show the Lord…the brashness that no one seldom knows of. The sin of omission is simply not doing what God wants us to do. It’s apathy and neglect on our part, but also thinking we know more than He does. Now we’re not brazenly telling God we refuse…we’re just quietly ignoring it…hoping it’ll just go away. But one of the most glaring signs of covert disrespect we can show God is to declare to Him, ” I can’t do that!” So as the verse asks…just who are you to talk back to God?
Ephesians 6:15 ” and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.”
For most of my life I lived in an area of the USA that doesn’t have tornadoes. So when I moved back to the Mid-West and “tornado alley” I asked my sister for storm advice. One of the most important things she stressed to me about being prepared for a tornado was to put my shoes on. I was rather confused until she explained that when the tornado sirens went off I had only minutes to get to the basement and I needed to grab my shoes on the way down. Because if my house did get hit, there’d be broken glass, exposed nails, and other dangerous things to crawl out from. I needed my shoes on in readiness just in case. As we walk with God, we need the same kind of preparedness to share the Good News of Jesus. For you never know when God will bring someone across your path that needs to hear the Gospel Message.
II Chronicles 6:14 “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven or on earth – You who keep Your covenant of love with Your servants who continue wholeheartedly in Your way.”
It’s all about the relationship. In any kind of relationship hopefully there’s give and take… communication and mutual respect…connection and co-operation. But our relationship with the Lord is totally unique from any we have here on earth. God’s covenant relationship with us is binding and unbreakable…bought by the blood of Jesus Christ…while we were yet sinners. And His loving kindness and mercy towards us has nothing to do with how good we are…for it is a free gift. So think about it…the relationship we have with our Lord is really rather lopsided, with Him giving so much more to us than we could ever give back. This covenant of love that flows between God and us gives us a purpose in life… and as we commit our heart, soul, and strength to Him, we are ever being changed from the inside out.
Romans 12:2 ” Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Everyday your character is being shaped… by the world or by God. We allow generational chains of bondage to influence how we think…molding us into people we don’t want to become. We allow the world’s dominance to sway how we behave around others…even when it’s contrary to how we really feel inside. Spiritual renewal of your mind is a determined process you must undertake yourself. It’s an evaluation of God’s Will – His good and well-pleasing Will for your life – as you allow your character to undergo a metamorphosis, a regeneration of how you think. Don’t be squeezed into the world’s mold for you. Decide today what’s going to be shaping your mind…the world or God.
Mark 7:24 ” Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet He could not keep His presence secret.”
You can’t quell the glory of God. In Luke 19 the people had begun joyfully to praise God in loud voices when the Pharisees ordered Jesus to rebuke them. Verse 40 says, “I tell you, He replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” Rejoicing in the Lord can not be contained…it must burst forth in worship of our Heavenly Father and what He’s done for us. Just like Jesus couldn’t keep His presence secret in that house, our praise and worship of God can’t be silenced or suppressed either.
Mother’s Day 2018
As a Believer, we all want to be that perfect Mother…that Proverbs 31 woman who effortlessly did it all. But if you would query 100 mothers…most would regretfully relate a time in their life when they felt they fell short of being that perfect Mom to their children. With unrealistic expectations, terrible work schedules, time restraints, and exhaustion, it can only lead to self-loathing about missing the mark as a perfect Mother. And if we allow it, the guilt and shame of that difficult time in our life will only overshadow any future joy we have with our children. But we also can’t allow that negative critique of ourselves to shackle us to past either. We can’t change what happened, but we can definitely be a positive influence now for our children and grandchildren.
I Corinthians 15:3 ” For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…”
That life-changing encounter with Jesus was the start of your journey as a Believer. You marveled at the grace, mercy, and loving kindness that was extended to you… a sinner that only deserved death. You became a recipient of the greatest gift ever…the free gift of eternal life. But for many of us we stop there, never sharing this Good News with others. We instead hold tightly to this gift refusing to share…desiring to just keep it to ourselves. But Paul tells us in this verse that first we are a receiver, but then we become a messenger… an ambassador for Christ, telling others about Him. Paul goes on in I Corinthians 11:2, ” I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the teachings, just as I passed them on to you.” How can we keep such wonderful, life-changing news to ourselves? The Lord wants us to pass it on to others. So today, tell someone how Jesus is working in your life.
Safetypinlove 